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It is hard to make a good horror comedy or haunted house movie nowadays,
and most of the times it is hard for viewers to sit through those particular types
of movies. It’s difficult for a
film-maker to circumvent the cliches, and almost impossible to rejuvenate this
genre of films. Sometimes, horror comedies made outside US seems to get the
ingredients right. For example, take “Shaun of the Dead”, where the comedy isn’t
painfully unfunny and there is also a palpable sense of tension. The debut
feature from New Zealand film-maker Gerard Johnstone, “Housebound” (2014) for
the most part achieves this balance between horror and comedy. Although, the horror here is predictable to a
certain extent, the casting of two expressive ladies in the primary roles makes
it a delirious fun.

The film opens with our protagonist Kylie (Morgana O’Reilly)
trying to rob an ATM with a sledgehammer, but gets herself caught. A permanent
sneer is constantly glued to her face because of the frustration that she can’t
leave her run-down house and run-down town. Kylie’s previous record of substance
abuse and anger management issues puts her under house arrest for eight months
with an ankle bracelet monitoring her movements. When we hear Kylie’s mother, Miriam
(Rima Te Wiata) talk we lean why Kylie thinks this is a cruel punishment. Another
person in the household is Graeme (Ross Harper), Kylie’s step-dad, who is the
polar opposite of Miriam.

The court-ordered psychiatrist, Dennis’ (Cameron Rhodes)
patronizing comments also doesn’t help Kylie. Miriam, the fast-talker often calls
late at night to paranormal radio show and tells tales about how her house is
haunted. Kylie makes fun of her mother’s tales until a trip down to the
basement where her skepticism vanishes. The
authorities think that either she is having trouble separating reality from
imagination or she is bringing up ghost to escape the house. Surprisingly for
Kylie, the guard who monitors her detention, Amos (Glen-Paul Waru), believes her
as he seems too obsessed with supernatural theories.

“Housebound” uses many of horror genre’s familiar beats:a horrific back-story, where a teenager is
murdered brutally in the house; a shirtless old guy skinning possums with an
evil look; the protagonist stabbing the wrong person under panic; unnecessary
jump-scares. But, what makes ‘Housebound’ entertaining is the way Gerard
Johnstone explores his characters. Rather than forcing in plot points within
the first 45 minutes, he develops the character and the central mother-daughter
relationship. The comedic conversations flow smoother only because of this
development. For the first few minutes, we could feel that the story is dragging
itself down to the inevitable path, but soon present us with a scenario, grander
than we could possibly imagine.

Director Johnstone builds every scene to either deliver a
gag line or a scare, and at every turn he keeps us guessing that whether a
build-up will result in shock or laugh. Humor for the most part is improved
perfectly by the presence of well-cast actors. Morgana keeps Kylie interesting.
Her characters’ cynical attitude and prolonged eccentrics could have easily frustrated
the viewer, but she keeps everything under control. As Miriam, Rime Te Wiata adds
a lot to the comedic mileage. Her interactions with O’Reilly not only generates
genuine laugh, but also brings out her sweet maternal side. I felt that the third act is a bit too long.
In order to give a finale filled with laughs and blood, the Johnstone begins to
stay too long. A little trimming and a sharp focus in this part would have made
this film more effective.

“Housebound” (106 minutes) will definitely entertain horror
fans, who’d like to have a formulaic premise with funnier twists. A stronger
balance between horror and humor would have made this an excellent film.

Reading a John le Carre's espionage novel is like watching in
real time, the workings of wild life photographer. We all might understand the
great end result produced by those two different professionals. But, possessing
immense patience to watch them carry through their work is wholly another
matter. Unlike James Bond or any other rollicking spy agent, the protagonists of
le Carre fiction wears a drab expression that says ‘I have seen everything’. Le
Carre’s heroes and villains work inside colorless offices behind cluttered
desks. The guys sporting guns and special equipments would also be there in his
stories, but they only come off as a minion, who is just a little piece of a
larger puzzle. To the eyes of uninitiated,
it might seem nothing much happens in a John le Carre spy novel, but if you
dwell in with enough patience, you might feel lots of things are happening and some
far exceeding to grasp.

Le Carre’s “A Most Wanted Man” is definitely not in the
league of “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”. It’s an above average novel, but
considered as the British author’s important work since he harped into the
contours of the post 9/11 state of emergency. Director Anton Corbijn’s adaptation of “A Most
Wanted Man” stays true to the routines of le Carre material (although this isn’t
the best adaptation of his works) and in the future might seen as the last
quality film from revered actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died of drug
overdose on February 2014. As always, there are lot of characters, hidden
agendas, and themes here, for the viewers to process and digest.

The story takes place in Hamburg, Germany. After 9/11, the
intelligence community in the city is on high alert as Mohammad Atta, one of
the Al-Qaeda plotters of 9/11, worked from the port city, Hamburg. The police
and peace-keepers are already on the move to make showy arrests and to reassure
the public that everything is under control. Chief of German anti-terrorist
squad in Hamburg, Gunther Bachman (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is very keen to see
that no new terrorist cell operates on his watch, in his city. In that setting,
a bearded young refugee named Issa Karpov (Grigoriy Dobrygin) literally washes
up on the shores of Hamburg.

Issa is a Chechen and a suspected Islamic militant. Soon,
Bachman’s anti-terror unit stalks this illegal immigrant and finds that he is
residing in the house of a Turkish mother and son. Issa has arrived to Hamburg to
locate a banker (Willem Dafoe), bearing the key to a fortune. Issa is helped by
a human rights group lawyer, Annabel Richter (Rachel McAdams), who works to
find a safe haven for bewildered refugees. Do-gooder lawyer, Annabel is soon brought in
for interrogation by Bachman, and Issa becomes a bait for bringing in a big fish
named Abdullah (Homayoun Ershadi), whose charities is suspected to be funneling money
to terrorist organizations. And, you could feel that something sinister is
going to happen when there is CIA operative (Robin Wright) watching over the
proceedings.

“I head an anti-terror unit that not many people know about
and even less like”. As Gunther, Hoffman utters these words and every other
ones with a very convincing voice and bearing. Only great actors can showcase
the inner workings of their mind without uttering a word. Hoffman possesses
that gift for silence as he easily conveys what his character feels through the
camera’s stillness. If you have read Le Carre’s espionage fiction, you could
easily predict that despair is waiting for us in the final pages, and it
becomes more fascinating (and also dismaying) to watch this despair through the
eyes of Hoffman. As always Hoffman doesn’t give us showy performance to win
awards. His greatness lies in the underplaying and in those slightest reactions
and modulations.

Hoffman and screenwriter Andrew Bovell somewhat turns the film
into a one-man show. Bored, middle-aged Banker Tommy Brue’s awakening and the
relationship between Annabel and Issa took the center stage in the novel,
whereas here the writer has jettisoned the wounded romanticism to put forth
Bachman front and center. It’s not bad to concentrate fully on the hard-hearted
procedural of contemporary espionage, but since the focus is on Bachman, the
ending only causes numbness rather than shock. However, one plot point that was
made better in the movie was the relationship between Bachman and his trusted
aide, Irna Frey, played by German actress Nina Hoss. She attends to him like a
wife or mother, and he looks at her with a mixture of fond and pain, suggesting
that there are hidden feelings beneath the layer of companionship.

Corbijn’s shots and Benoit Delhomme’s lensing wonderfully
highlights dark corners and sharp edges of Hamburg, as if the city was plunged
into a perpetual gloom. The grand and grimy background never lets you forget
that act of terrors are waiting upon the corners. Corbijn, like his last film “The
American”, once again proceeds with care, giving time for the viewer to soak
into the story’s mysteries.

“A Most Wanted Man” (122 minutes) is a quietly gripping
thriller that ponders over the sinistral workings of the intelligence-gathering
world. It also serves as the bittersweet reminder of Philips Seymour Hoffman’s
prodigious acting talents.

Frank Capra was one of the fine Hollywood directors to have crafted
the image of “American Everyman”. He has tried his hand in romance genre (“It
Happened One Night”, 1934), political and social commentary movies (“Mr. Smith
to Washington”, 1939; “It’s a Wonderful Life”, 1946), slapstick comedy (“Arsenic
and Old Lace”, 1944), and even WWII propaganda films for the US government.
But, through all those films he has brought us the honest and forthright protagonists – the common man, who believe in the basic goodness of people. Although
his movies could be bashed as sentimental melodramas, one can’t deny the
powerful ideas he weaved in those films which resonates more than ever in the
contemporary era.

“Meet John Doe” (1941) was the second collaboration between
Capra, actor Gary Cooper, and writer Robert Riskin. The trio previously worked
in the Oscar nominated “Mr. Deeds Goes to Town” (1936). “Meet John Doe” may not
fit into the category of Capra’s ‘greatest films’, but as ever, his faith on
American system and portrayal of timeless themes, gives an inherent charm to
it. The film was based on the story written by Richard Connell and Robert
Presnell (in 1922). The first shot of the film shows that a bronze plaque belonging
to a newspaper office, named “Free Press” is being blasted off. The newspaper
is brought by a wealthy industrialist Mr. D.B. Norton (Edward Arnold) and the
new plaque reads “The New Bulletin: A Streamlined Paper for a Streamlined Era”.

The new management starts off by downsizing its employees.
When a desperate journalist, Ann Mitchell (Barbara Stanwyck) finds herself in
the firing line, she cooks up a letter, written by a fictional John Doe, who
threatens to commit suicide on Christmas Eve by throwing himself off from the
top floor of City Hall. The fake letter by the non-existent John Doe protests
against corruption and hypocrisy. The letter gets published and the reading
public takes it as truth, donating money, offering home and jobs for the
fictional character. When rivals accuse the newspaper of cheap publicity, the
frantic editor brings Ann back on the job, and asks her to find the perfect
common man to play “John Doe”.

In an interview, they select the handsome and rugged John
Willoughby (Gary Cooper), a homeless bush-league pitcher with a bad arm. To
play the part, he is initially offered $50 and a promise to give enough money for
an operation to fix his arm. With the help of Ann’s firebrand writings, John
Doe protests against corrupt politics and for the poor people by staying inside
a luxurious suite. The newspaper circulation hits the roof, and D.B. Norten
invites Ann and also gives permission to take the ‘John Doe’ ploy further.

After delivering an inspirational Live Radio speech (written
by Ann), Willoughby becomes a national celebrity. People across US start to
form ‘John Doe’ clubs to help the needy and to fight against corruption. And,
for some sinister reasons, D.B. Norten sponsors all those clubs that seems to
sprout in every corner of the country. What started off as a joke becomes a ‘national
movement’, and gradually turns into a spider’s web for Willoughby and Ann.

As usual, director Frank Capra expertly tells his story
weaving comedy, serious drama, and political commentary. Capra mostly avoids
cynicism when portraying about those clubs. He clearly depicts that the John
Doe clubs didn’t stem from political anger but from benefaction. Through simple
scenarios, the scriptwriter Riskin shows how politics could be transcended by
some neighborly concern. Similar to movies like ‘Mr. Smith’ and 'Mr. Deeds’,
Capra once again pits pure, naive common man against manipulative, greedy
politician or businessman. The way Capra stereotypes these two polar opposite
characters definitely has a childlike simplicity. Riskin’s clunky, happy ending
also spoils the film a little, but despite these flaws, the movie’s profoundly
discloses the timeless nature of the incisive group of fellows.

The corporate television media or tea parties may not have
been so popular in Capra’s era, but a viewer could easily draw parallels with
our contemporary era. It’s been more tan seven decades since the movie’s
release, and still the operations of bad institutions and governments haven’t
changed much. It still likens to glue itself into any genuine people’s
movement, only to use it for their own devious purposes. Corporate interests and
political aspirants seem to fund their way into grass-roots organization, connecting
their own profit-minded wagon into those rapid fire crusades. Capra’s cast is uniformly excellent. As Norten,
Edward Arnold brings a calm menace into his character that is very unsettling.
Walter Brennan as ‘Colonel’ turns in an entertaining performance and remains as
the story’s voice of truth. The charismatic Gary Cooper perfectly fills in the
role of the shy, bewildered protagonist.

“Meet John Doe” (122 minutes) is a must watch for Frank
Capra fans and lovers of black-and-white classics. It is elevated by an entertaining
cast and widely resonating political & social themes.

Film-maker David Gordon Green takes us to bewildering American
landscapes that doesn’t exists within the confines of the great American dream.
Harried men, dilapidated towns, broken-down machinery, and the economic
destitution makes one wonder about the hardships endured in the deep American
South. Green along with Jeff Nichols (“Shotgun Stories”, “Mud”) was one of the
few American directors, who don’t reduce the characters to usual southern
archetypes (as portrayed in mainstream Hollywood). Although these lands contain
uncut lawns and industrial wastes, there is some beauty to it. And as Green
allows his actors to improvise you could find an uncommon naturalism imbued
with poetic undertones. Gordon Green has lost his ways when he becomes the ‘director-for-hire’
in movies like “Pineapple Express” or “Your Highness”, but he makes effective
character studies when he evokes Southern countryside ("George Washington", "All the Real Girls", "Undertow", "Joe").

“Undertow” (2004) was Gordon Green third feature film and
the story transpires in rural Georgia. The plot structure easily makes us to
draw comparisons on Charles Laughton’s classic “Night of the Hunter” (1955).
Chris (Jamie Bell) is a rebellious teenager, who always acts against his father’s
wishes. He hates to work in his father’s (Dermot Mulroney) hot, dirty pig farm.
Chris loves his younger brother Tim (Devon Alan), who plays in the mud and is
often plagued by stomach-ache. Chris seems to have done everything to break
from familial shackles. When the movie starts he is chased by his girl friend’s
gun-toting father. He steps on a board and nail, and eventually ends up in the
care of police.

John, father of Chris and Tim, is an introverted man, who
has moved to the countryside after the death of his wife. John likes the
isolation as much as Chris hates it. One day everything changes, when John’s
younger brother, Deel (Josh Lucas) arrives to their house. Deel has been
released on parole and seems to have some darker motivations. Initially, Deel
fills the ‘favorite uncle’ role by taking Chris for a drive and by bonding with
him. However, he bears a grudge against his brother for two vital reasons. When
Deel’s nasty streak is eventually revealed, the two siblings run for their life
through the dusty back roads and murky river banks.

Although “Undertow” couldn't be deemed as a phenomenal flick like “Night
of the Hunter”, it is shot with a similar exquisiteness. If Laughton’s film was
diffused with unique expressionistic shots, Green’s movie is repleted with excellent
lush cinematography. Cinematographer Tim Orr looks for little beauties within destitute,
animosity-filled land. The panoramic tracking shots magnify the character’s
distress and bring sympathy to the beat-down working class people. At times, the film resembles Terrence Malick’s
evocative shots, especially the shots of twinkling sunlight through giant trees
(the film was co-produced by Malick). Green directs with his trademark
transitional fades and his setting evokes the 70’s thrillers.

Green always attends to little character details and brings
out intense performances even from unprofessional actors. “Undertow” has some
sort of conventional storyline, unlike other Green’s movies. The director doesn’t
conjure up enough sense of dread to categorize it into a ‘thriller’, because he
is more interested in developing personalities than suspense; clear narrative
paves way to atmosphere. And so in bringing up that palpable sense of enfolding
surroundings, he clearly succeeds. Overblown talks about demons, hell, and luck
would surely frustrate standard thriller-genre fans. But, it would be
well-suited for those in pensive mood and those who care about the traditional three-act
plot structure.

There are several wonderful little moments in the movie. One
that immediately comes to mind is when the two siblings, on the run, wander
through the junkyard and take time to model their secret hideout place after a
space ship. They also plant silly warning materials around their habitat to
warn them of Deel’s presence. Some of the plot’s clunky dialogues and faulty
coincidences can be overlooked because of such perceptive moments. Jamie Bell
perfectly dons the role of Southern reckless teenager (he is actually a British
actor). Sad-faced Alan is nicely matched with Bell and they bring towering
strength to the proceedings. Josh Lucas is terrifying without ever going over
the top.

“Undertow” (108 minutes) conveys simple relationship between
two siblings with authenticity, unique style and wisdom. Although it isn’t Director
Gordon Green’s best (or for that matter, Green is yet to give us his ‘the best’),
it poetically blends character study with formal thrills.

Petter Naess’ Oscar-nominated, Norwegian light-hearted
comedy “Elling” (2001) opens with the authorities discovering a sensitive
middle-aged guy, who has hidden in a closet after his mother’s death. The
middle-aged guy named ‘Elling’ (Per Christian Ellefsen) has been a momma’s boy
throughout his life and has seen very little of the outside world. He is
well-versed in telling stories and reading books, but harbors prominent fears
about society which puts him in an insane asylum. This initial setting alone is
enough to paint a dark portrait about the exigencies of a wider world. But,
this movie takes a different approach as it imbues an unsentimental feel-good
texture to the storyline. It has an upbeat tone and works within the bounds of
commercial cinema. At the same time, it never sinks into the lowly comic depths
often evidenced in mainstream Hollywood cinema.

Elling is paired with a giant-like fellow named Kjell Bjarne
(Sven Nordin). Bjarne is obsessed with the idea of sex and in a tense state he
fiercely bangs his head against the wall. Elling, initially hates Bjarne as his
asylum roommate, but over the course of two years they become pals. At the end
of two years, the two guys are installed in an apartment in Oslo. They are
deemed ready to rejoin the society and placed under the care of social worker
Frank (Jorgen Langhelle). Now, they have to try to adjust to the routines of
normal world.

Living in a ‘normal world’ means going to shopping and
striking new friendships. But, for Elling even answering telephones looks like an
onerous task. He is frightened by the frenzied activities on the roads, as his
two enemies accompany him (“I have always had two enemies, dizziness and
anxiety”). When Bjarne escorts him across the street to a restaurant, it
becomes quite an achievement. From then on, things gradually turn up for the
better. Bjarne falls in love with a single pregnant woman Reidun (Marit Pia Jacobsen), who lives in the upstairs flat. Elling suddenly discovers a hidden talent
of poetry (names himself as “Sauerkraut Poet”) and strikes a friendship with a
reclusive elderly poet (Per Christensen).

Elling comments that while many people aren’t afraid to
travel to South Pole, he is terrified to cross the restaurant floor to reach
the restroom. But, once he conquered that fear by walking to that restroom, he
immediately starts conquering another dear – calling from a phone. Through
Elling, we are shown that seizing simple individual fears is the only way to
move forward in life. In a typical comedy genre movie, the same odd-ball nature
of the titular character would be used to poke fun at him, where he would react
ridiculously in commonplaces (for example “Dumb and Dumber”). But, though “Elling”
is a light-hearted comedy, it tries to address issues from the perspective of
the character.

The relationship between Elling and Bjarne is moving,
without any added syrupy sentimentality. Unlike a cliched ‘mental-impairment’
movie, “Elling” doesn’t offer us a sane guardian angel, who guides those
eccentric guys to lead a ‘normal’ life. Here, the two main characters itself
complement one another, possessing an attribute which the other lacks. They become
co-dependent helping each other’s mental ailments. The movie was based novel by
Ingvar Ambjornsen and director Petter Naess has earlier reworked the novel into
a stage play. Director Naess elegantly walks the thin line between comedy and
tragedy, without letting off the chance to observe darkly funny moments. Ellefsen
and Sven Nordin reprise the primary characters from their earlier stage
production. Their awkward ego-centric expressions are a pleasure to watch.

“Elling” (85 minutes) is a deftly managed comedy drama that celebrates
a friendship between two wallflowers. It finds humor in these eccentric men’s
misadventures, but stays away from making fun of them.